Dump door latching means



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Patentecl pr. 4, 195() UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GeorgenMlolosCanada,

assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 12, 1947, SerialNo. 791,254

12 Claims. 1

My invention relates to an improved dum-pdoor latching means and is especially concerned with the means employed for wedging a dump door to closed position and retaining the said door in fully closed position.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved latchi-ng means for a dump door employed in railway dump car and the like which will permit of releasing the door from a location adjacent the discharge opening and thus assure safety of operation.

It is also a particular object of vmy invention to provide latching means for a door which will operate for simultaneously effecting latching at a plurality of locations and for simultaneously releasing the latching at the various locations.

A specific object of the invention is to effect the latching of the door through the medium of an operating shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the free edge of the door whereby the shaft will operate in the manner of a latch and to provide means for swinging the shaft by rotation thereof.

Another specic object of my invention isthe provision of door latching means which will operate to support the door inpartially closedA position and whereby said latching means will also operate as a wedging force to move the door `from partially closed tofully closed position.

My invention further resides lin certain details which will be fully pointed outy hereinafter and claimed.

For further comprehension of my invention reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. l is a transverse, elevational sectional view taken through the iloor portion of a flat ioor gondolay car havlnga drop door in the floor, said view showing slightly less than one half the transverse width of the car and illustrating my improvementsapplied thereto. Fig'. 2 is a longitudinal side elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, said view showing as much of the car as necessary toillustrate my improved construction in connection with one door. Fig. 3 is a View taken on a linei--fo'f Fig. 2 showing thefshaft in its normal depending position when released and the relative position of the shaft and door as the latter makes Contact with the shaft. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the crank arm located at the operati-ng end of the shaft showing the operating socket handle associated with said arm. Fig. 5 is a vertical elevational View of the member shown in Fig. l as viewed from right* to left. Fig'. 6 is a vertical elevationalside View showing on an enlarged scale the operating end portion'of the door latching mechanism and door parts, said view being similar tothe end portion vof Fig. 2. Fig 7 is al vertical-elevational end View of the structure-shown in Fig'. 6 as viewed from right to left. Fig. 8 is a fractional elevational sectional view through the outer end of the door structure on an enlarged scale as viewed on aline correspond-ing substantially to a line 8-8 of Fig, 2`, said View illustrati-ng the mechanism in normal hanging position and the relative position of the bracket and rshaft as the door makes contact with the latter. Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 except that the door is further advanced in a closing direction and the shaft is moved outwardly beyond the path Iof movement of the door. Fig'. l0 is similar to Fig. `8 except that the dooris shown in partially closed position with the shaft in supporting relation with the supplementary seat.l

Fig. ll is a View similar to Fig. 8 except that `thedoor is not shown and the shaft is shown as moved outwardly and retained in non-operative position Yby reason ofthe knuckling of the toggle joint. Fig. l2 is an elevational side view of the combined pivot and'tire bar, saidview being-taken as viewed on a line |2|2 of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a vertical end view of the member shown in Fig. 12- as Viewed vfrornlright to left. y

In: said drawings lil indicates the center sill of the car, ll the bottom member of the adjacent car sidewall which is preferably in the .formV of an angle'fmember with one wall I2 vertically-disposed andthe adjacent flange I3 extending horizontally inwardly. Extending transversely acrossv the car between the center sill and car side are narrow licor plates Hl which in combination with-diaphragms l5 constitute the crossbeams of the car. Said iioor plates are spaced lengthwise of the car to providedischarge openings between the crossbeams. Disposed in the door opening `defined by the marginal edgesl of the crossbeam plates and the car side bottom angeand lthe centersillis the dumping door l5 which is hinged at one end as ati'l on hinge butts t8; the latter in turn being mounted on the centers-ill. Said door IAG-fis extended outwardly from the centersill towards the car side and when in closed position the load contacting surface of the door'fabuts the underside of the crossplates l4=' and-the' 'horizontally disposed ila-'nge `I3 of the bottom member Il. The door adjacent the swinging edge is reinforced by a depending wall y|9fand -a horizontally extending lower flange 20; the'latter being spaced appreciably from the load contacting surface of the door, said wall I9 in combinationwith the lower flange 20 combining to present a Z shaped reinforcement for the outer edge of the door.

The door is reinforced on its underside with suitable door beams 2| which extend from adjacent the hinge pivots towards the free edge of the door and terminate adjacent the front vertical wall I9 of the door. The door is of the type which is arranged to be swung to closed position and latched in the final stage of the closing operation and in order to facilitate the door lifting operation a bracket 22 is secured to the underside of the door and an operating bar 23 is inserted in the said bracket as indicated in Fig. 3.

The means employed for latching the door in closed position include a shaft 24 swingingly mounted adjacent the front edge of the door and arranged to supportingly engage a pair of brackets 25-25 which project outwardly from the door.

Each bracket 25 is disposed in the angle presented by the walls I9 and 29 of the door and is secured thereto as indicated at 26 and 21. The bracket projects outwardly beyond the horizontally extending flange 2t of the door and the under-Surface of said projecting portion is formed with seats 2B and 29 disposed at different levels relatively to the load contacting surface of the door and also disposed at different distances from the pivotal axis of the door hinge pivots and the intervening space between the respective seats is bridged by an inclined wall 3Q. The end wall of the bracket is disposed at an angle to the arc described by the door in its swinging movement in order to present an inclined runway 3| for engagement with the shaft as the door is moved in a closing direction as will be explained hereinafter. The bracket is formed with an inwardly extending web portion 'J2 which passes through a slotted opening 33 in the vertical wall I9 of the door and the web portion is secured to the door beam 2|.

The shaft 24 is mounted to have bodily swinging movement and for this purpose is mounted in links 34 which in turn are pivotally supported from the car body on pivots 35, the latter being located outwardly of the car side wall and above the door with the axis of the pivot disposed substantially parallel with the pivotal axis of the door.

The shaft is rotatably mounted in the lower portion of the links 34 and is provided with mechanism whereby bodily swinging movement of the shaft is effected by rotation of the shaft. Said mechanism includes crank arms 36 xedly associated with the shaft and link means 31 pivotally connected at one end with the arm 36 at 38 and having its opposite end pivoted to the car structure by means of pivot 39. The shaft when in normal released position lies directly below the pivotal axis 35 of the supporting link 34 and the shaft and links are freely swingable in either direction from said normal position for a limited degree of swinging movement.

The link mechanism including arm 36 and associated link 31 is disposed to act in right angular relation with respect to the supporting link 34 and the said arm 36 and link 31 are arranged to assume a dead center toggle locking action with the pivotal axis of the shaft 24 lying slightly to one side of a line 4E) joining the axes of pivots 38 and 39. Said toggle mechanism is effective for locking the shaft either inwardly beneath the door or outwardly beyond the path of movement of the door.

A socket handle 4| is provided at one end of the shaft for receiving a removable bar whereby rotation of the shaft may be effected with safety and convenience, said handle being preferably formed integrally with one of the crank arms 3B.

The means employed for supporting the shaft and its associated linkage mechanism includes brackets 42 of which there are two per door but inasmuch as the construction of each bracket is the same the description will be conned to only one of such units. Said bracket 42 includes angularly related walls 43 and 44 arranged in cornerwise relation to respectively overlie the vertical and horizontal walls of the car side and are secured thereto and extending outwardly from said car wall are walls 45 and 46 arranged in spaced relation lengthwise of the car to accommodate the link 34 therebetween, The wall 46 is extended downwardly beyond the wall 45 and the link 31 is disposed outwardly of the said downwardly extended section of wall 4G. The pivots 35 and 39 are formed integrally with a tie plate member 41 which is rivetted to the said walls 45 and 46 by means of rivets which extend through the respective pivots. The pivot 35 is extended through an opening 48 formed in wall 46 and is thus supported by the securing rivet and the said wall 46. A locking dog 49 is pivotally mounted on the said pivot 35, said dog being disposed in alinement with the link 31 and co-operable therewith to maintain the toggle joint in locking relation.

The operation of the mechanism will be well understood by reference to the various illustrations. With the door in open position the shaft normally assumes the pendant position shown in Fig. 3 and is displaced outwardly by movement of the door, the beveled outer edge 3I operating to force the shaft and its supporting link 34 outwardly beyond the path of movement of the door to the position indicated by the conventional dot and dash lines as indicated at 50. The relation of the linkage and shaft as the shaft rides on the beveled surface 3| is shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Continued movement of the door in a closing direction allows the shaft to gravtate into supporting position beneath the outer end of the supporting brackets to engage the supplementary seats 28 and the door is then retained in partially closed position. The operator then inserts a suitable bar in the operating socket handle 4| and by a partial revolution of the shaft in an anti-clockwise direction closes the toggle joint to the position indicated in Fig. '1 thereby moving the shaft inwardly along the inclined surface 3D of the bracket and into engagement with the main supporting seat 29. In the nal closed position of the door the toggle action knuckles slightly over dead center as will be seen by reference to Fig. '7 inasmuch as the axis of the shaft crosses to one side of and beyond the line 49. In order to accommodate the shaft 24 in the dead center position with its pivotal axis substantially in line with the pivotal axes of the link 31 the latter is arched as indicated at 5 I. The latching operation of the door is completed by swinging the locking dogs 49 into engagement with the upper surface of the links 31.

The release of the door latching mechanism is -a reversal of the above described procedure except that continued rotation of the shaft in a clockwise direction results in straightening the toggle members thereby moving the axis of pivot 38 past the dead center line as represented by line 52. In this position of the shaft, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 11, the upper surface of the link 31 forms a support for the shaft in its Voverhalanced position.

What I claim is:

l. In a dump car, the combination with the body thereof and a dump door pivotally mounted on the car body; of means for retaining the door in closed position, said means including a rotatable shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the swinging edge of the door and pivotally mounted link means for vsupporting the shaft, said link means being pivoted on an axis disposed above the shaft and substantially parallel to the axis of the door hinge pivotal mounting, said shaft being arranged to hang normally in a released kposition beneath and in vertical alinement with the pivotal axis of the supporting link means and lie in the path of movement of the door and freely displaceable from said normal released *position in either direction therefrom; a seating surface on the door disposed in line with the shaft when in its normal released position; and means on the door including an inclined wedging wall disposed to engage the shaft in advance of the door seating surface and displace the said 'shaft outwardly by engagement with the door on movenient of the door in a closing direction.

2. In a railway car, the combination with the car body and a dumping kdoor pivotally mounted on the car body; of interengaging means carried by the body and door respectively for retaining the door in closed position; said means including a rotatable shaft mounted for bodily movement adjacent the swinging edge of the door and linkage means for swingingly supporting the shaft, said linkage being pivotally mounted on the car body on an axis parallel with the pivotal axis of the door mounting; and said means carried by the door including bracket means projecting outwardly beyond the front marginal edge of the door to engage with the shaft for retaining the door in closed position, said shaft when in released position being mounted to normally lie in the path of the bracket means and freely movable to and from the door axis; and means on the door including an inclined wedging surface associated with the bracket means for engagement with the shaft during closing movement of the door operating to swing the shaft and supporting linkage means outwardly beyond the path of movement vof the door.

3. In a dump car, the combination with the car body and a dump door vhinged adjacent one end to the car body and arranged to be releasably supported adjacent the opposite end thereof; of means carried by the 4body and door respectively for releasably supporting said door adjacent its swinging edge, said means carried by the body including a bodily movable and rotatable shaft and pivotally mounted link means for supporting the shaft, said link means being mounted on an axis disposed above the door and extending in parallelism with the axis of the door hinge pivots; and said means carried by the door including bracket means projecting beyond the front edge of the door and formed on its underside with seating surfaces arranged to rest on the shaft when the door is in closed position, said shaft when in released position being disposed to hang normally beneath and in vertical alinement with the axis of the link supporting pivot and in the path of movement of the door bracket means and freely displaceable from said normal release position towards and away from the pivotal axis of the door; means on the bracket means including an inclined wedging surface arranged to engage with `the shaftl in advance of the seating surface on the bracket and thereby displace the shaft koutwardly by movement of the door in a closing direction, said displaced shaft on continued movement of the door in a closing direction being arranged to 'gravitate to seating position beneath the door; and means for moving the shaft outwardly from its supporting position by rotation of the shaft to thereby release the shaft from its supporting position'beneath the door.

4. In a railway dump car, the combination with the body having a discharge opening and a pivotally mounted door on the body for closing the opening; of means for supporting the swinging edge of the door including a bodily movable shaft arranged to be normally disposed in the path of movement of the door when in released position and movable towards and away from the hinge axis of the door; means for supporting the shaft throughout its bodily movement; said shaft being arranged to gravitate to a latching position beneath the door in the manner of a latch :and be displaced outwardly by movement `of the door in a closing direction to allow the door to move past the shaft when in normal released position; and means for inducing bodily .movement of the shaft by rotation thereof, said means including an arm fixedly associated with the shaft and a link pivoted to the arm and to the car body, said pivotal centers of the link and the pivotal axis of the shaft being so disposed as to assume a substantially dead center toggle locking position to retain the shaft aga-inst bodily movement.

5. In a railway dump car, the combination with the car body and a dumping door hinged to said car body; of interengaging latching means 4carried by the car body and door respectively; said means carried by the body including a shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the free edge of the door and link means for supporting the shaft, said link means being pivoted on van kaxis disposed above the shaft when in released position and parallel to the pivotal axis of the door hinge pivots, said shaft being so disposed as to hang directly beneath and in vertical alinement with the pivotal axis of the supporting link; kand said means carried by the door including bracket means projecting outwardly beyond the front margin of the door, the underside of said bracket being formed with seats for the shaft to con-- tact, said seats being disposed at `different levels relatively to the load contacting surface of the door and spaced from each other relatively to the hinge axis of the door pivotal mounting, and an inclined wall connecting said respective seats, said shaft being arranged to gravitate to supporting position beneath the cuter of said seats and maintain the door in partially closed position and the other of said seats forming the main support for the door and arranged to bear on the shaft to retain the door in fully closed position; and means for moving the shaft from one seat to the other by rotation of the shaft, said means :including toggle acting mechanism acting `to maintain the shaft against bodily movement when the shaft is under the main door support.

6. In a dump car, the combination with the car body and a door hinged to the body; of means carried by the car body and door respectively for latching the door in closed position, said means carried by the body including a swingingly mounted shaft disposed adjacent the front edge of the door to normally lie in the path of movement of the door and arranged to be displaced outwardly beyond the door by movement of the `latter in a door closing direction and thereafter gravitate to supporting position beneath the door; said means carried by the door including bearing seats arranged in vertically and horizontally spaced relation to provide a main bearing seat to support the door in fully closed position and a supplementary seat for holding the door in partially closed position, said respective seats being connected by an inclined wall; said shaft upon closing movement of the door being arranged to gravitate into engagement with the supplementary seat in the manner of a latch; and means for movingr the shaft inwardly by rotation thereof from said supplementary seat to supporting position beneath the main seat, said means including arms nxedly associated with the shaft and link means pivotally associated at one end with the car body and pivotally connected at the opposite end to the arms, said pivotal axes of the link means and shaft when the latter is in final supporting position presenting a dead center toggle locking action to retain the shaft against outward movement.

7. In a dump car, the combination with the car body and a dumping door hinged to said car body and movable to closed position with its swinging edge in abutting relation with the car body; of means for latching the swinging edge of the door to the car body, said means including a bodily movable and rotatable shaft, said shaft being normally disposed in the path of movement of the door and arranged to be displaced outwardly beyond the door by movement of the door in a closing direction and thereafter gravitate to supporting position beneath the door; means for compeiling bodily movement of the shaft by rotation thereof; and means for inducing rotation of the shaft, said means including an open ended socket at one end of the shaft arranged for receiving a removable operating bar.

8. In a dump car, the combination with the car body and a dump door hinged to the body; of means for latching the door in closed position, said means including a rotatable and bodily movable shaft and pivoted links for supporting the shaft, said shaft being disposed to normally lie in the path of movement of the door and be displaced outwardly beyond the door by movement of the latter in a closing direction and thereafter gravitate to a supporting position beneath the door; means for imparting swinging movement to the links and shaft by rotation of the shaft, said means including crank arms fixedly mounted on the shaft and a link pivotally connected to each arm and to the car structure; and means for rotating the shaft, said means including an open ended socket disposed adjacent one end of the shaft and arranged for receiving an operating bar, said socket being formed integrally with one of the crank arms.

9. In a dump car, the combination with the car body including a substantially horizontally extending floor wall and a dumping door hingedly mounted on the car body and movable to closed position into abutting relation with the said floor wall; said door adjacent its swinging edge being of Z shaped formation with a depending wall and an outstanding forwardly projecting horizontally extending wall spaced from the floor abutting surface; of interengaging latching means carried by the body and door respectively for retaining the latter in closed position, said means on the car body including a shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the front edge of the door and normally disposed in the path of movement of the door and outwardly displaceable by movement of the latter in a door closing direction and arrangement to thereafter gravitate to supporting position beneath the door; said means carried by the door including brackets disposed in the angle presented by the depending wall and outstanding wall of the door and secured thereto, said bracket means being extended outwardly beyond the outstanding wall of the door and provided on its underside with seating surfaces for co-operation with the shaft.

10. In a dump car, the combination with the car body and a dump door hinged to said body; of means for supporting 4the swinging edge of the door to maintain the door in closed position, said means including a bodily movable and rotatable shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the front edge of the door and pivotally mounted links for supporting the shaft, said links being mounted on an axis disposed above the shaft and extending in parallelism with the pivotal axis of the door; and bearing seats carried by the door and arranged to have seating relation with the shaft, said seats being arranged in vertically and horizontally spaced relation to provide a main bearing for retaining the door in fully closed position and a supplementary seat for holding the door in partially closed position, said respective seats being connected by a wall extending at an angle be tween said respective seats; said shaft upon closing movement of the door being arranged to automatically move to supporting position beneath the supplementary seat in the manner of a latch; and means for moving the shaft along the inclined wall to lie beneath the main supporting seat, said means including an arm xedly associated with the shaft adjacent each supporting link and a link pivoted to the arm and to the car body, said pivotal axes of the link and shaft when the shaft is in position beneath the main seat presenting a dead center toggle locking action to retain the shaft against outward movement; and a locking dog pivotally mounted on a pivotal axis located co-axially with the shaft supporting link, said dog being arranged to be swung into the path of movement of the toggle link.

11. In a dump car, the combination with the car body including a car side member having a vertically extending side wall and a horizontally extending lower wall, the combination with a hinged dump door movable to closed position with its swinging edge arranged to abut the said horizontally extending wall, said door having its outer marginal edge formed of substantially Z-shaped construction with one wall extending substantially in right angulall relation with respect to the main body of the door and a forwardly projecting lower ange spaced from the abutting surface of the door; of interengaging latching means carried by the body and door respectively for latching the door in closed position, said means carried by the body including a shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the free edge of the door and pivotally mounted links for supporting the shaft, said shaft being arranged to normally lie in the path of movement of the door and be displaced outwardly by movement of said door in a closing direction and thereafter gravitate to latching position, and means for compelling bodily movement of the shaft by rotation thereof, said means including an arm fixedly mounted on the shaft and a substantially horizontally extending link pivoted at one end to the arm and having the other end pivotally associated with the car structure, and a bracket for supporting the shaft and its associated linkajge mechanism, said bracket extending cornerwise around the car side and secured to the vertical and horizontal walls of the said side wall member to present a support for the horizontally disposed link lying below the horizontally disposed wall of the car side m'ember and in the space defined by the outer Z-shaped marginal edge of the door.

' 12. In a dump car, the combination with\the carbody and a discharge door pivotally mounted on the car body; of means for supporting the swinging edge of the door, said means including aj bodily movable and rotatable shaft swingingly mounted adjacent the swinging edge of the door and link means pivotally mounted on the car body for supporting the shaft, said link means being p ivotally mounted above the shaft to swing on an axis parallel with the` axis of the door hinge pivots; vand means for compelling bodily movement of the shaft by rotation thereof, said means including an arm xedly associated with the shaft and a link pivotally associated with the arm and with the car body; and a bracket assembly mounted on the car body for supporting the reff'spective links, said assembly including a base portion secured to the car body and a combined :pivot and tie plate secured to the said base p0rtion, said plateineluding in an integral unit the pivots for the respective links and a tie plate le of this patent:

GEORGE B. DOREY.

REFERNCES CITED The following references are of record in the UNITgip STATES PATENTS Number Name Date I 1,535,111 Dorey Apr. 28, 1925 '1 1,584,416 Wine 1;; May 11, 1926 1,818,688 Campbell Aug. 11, 1931 1,861,153 Dorey May 31, 1932 

